CEI Taps Veteran COO to Helm Operations Amid Growth and State Freeze

OAKLAND, CA – January 21, 2026 – The Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI), a leading East Bay provider of comprehensive healthcare for seniors, has appointed Maria Lozzano as its new Chief Operating Officer. The move signals a strategic reinforcement of its leadership as the 44-year-old organization navigates a period of unprecedented growth against the backdrop of a shifting statewide regulatory environment.

Lozzano, who joined the executive team on January 12, 2026, reports directly to President and CEO Maria Zamora. She is tasked with overseeing all organizational operations, enhancing operational excellence, and supporting CEI’s mission to enable vulnerable older adults to live independently in their communities.

“CEI has experienced significant growth over the past few years, and we eagerly look forward to the continued expansion of our mission,” said Zamora. “As we step into our 44th year of operation, now is the right time to bring a seasoned COO into our organization. I am delighted to have an operations leader of Maria’s caliber join our executive team.”

A Strategic Architect for an Era of Expansion

Lozzano brings over 20 years of healthcare leadership experience, with a deep specialization in value-based care models like the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), which forms the core of CEI’s services. Her career is marked by a proven ability to drive operational effectiveness and strategic growth in complex, multi-site healthcare organizations.

Her appointment follows a monumental expansion for CEI. In the summer of 2025, the organization opened three new PACE centers in Livermore, El Sobrante, and Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, a move that nearly doubled its service capacity to over 3,300 seniors across Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The Livermore center alone, at 23,000 square feet, is CEI's largest facility. This growth also includes a 420% increase in home care service hours, now totaling 3,100 hours per week for 33% of its participants.

Lozzano’s background appears tailor-made for this moment. Most recently, she served as President of Pharmacy Services at InnovAge, a prominent national PACE provider. There, she oversaw pharmacy operations and enterprise strategy across multiple states. Her tenure at InnovAge also included roles as Corporate COO and Chief Business Development & Operations Officer, where she managed national operations, market development, and M&A integration. Earlier in her career, she drove operational transformation as COO at VNA California, leading home health, hospice, and palliative care services.

Navigating a Complex Landscape for Elder Care

Lozzano’s expertise is particularly critical given the current climate for PACE programs in California. PACE is a federally and state-funded model celebrated for its success in keeping frail seniors out of nursing homes. By providing a full spectrum of coordinated medical and social services—from primary care and physical therapy to meals and transportation—the model allows over 90% of its participants, who are all certified as needing a nursing home level of care, to continue living in their own homes and communities.

Studies show PACE participants experience 44% fewer hospitalizations and have 26% lower emergency room usage than their non-PACE counterparts, generating an estimated $369.4 million in savings for California taxpayers in 2024 alone.

However, Lozzano takes the operational helm at a pivotal juncture. In November 2025, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) instituted a minimum two-year moratorium on all new PACE organization applications and service area expansions. Citing a surge in applications that outpaced the state's administrative capacity for oversight, the freeze effectively halts geographic growth for providers like CEI until at least late 2027. This state-level directive shifts the strategic imperative from expansion to optimization, placing an intense focus on maximizing efficiency, quality, and capacity within existing service areas—a core component of Lozzano’s professional expertise.

A Personal Mission for Dignified Aging

Beyond her extensive operational resume, Lozzano brings a deeply personal commitment to her role, a motivation she traces back to her upbringing. This personal philosophy aligns directly with the person-centered mission that has defined CEI for over four decades.

“I believe senior care’s future depends on leaders who are disciplined about systems and deeply committed to people,” Lozzano stated. “Having been raised by my grandparents, this work is personal to me. As COO at CEI, my approach is to be hard on problems and soft on people, building strong, accountable teams and reliable operations that support dignity, independence and trust, so older adults can live safely and purposefully in their communities.”

This ethos complements a culture that has already earned CEI national recognition. In 2024, the organization was designated an Age-Friendly Health System by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), an honor acknowledging its commitment to prioritizing what matters most to older adults in their health goals and care preferences. Lozzano's leadership is expected to further embed these principles into the operational fabric of the organization as it scales.

As COO, Lozzano will be responsible for the complex orchestration of services for nearly 1,600 PACE participants and over 800 clients in the Home and Community Based Alternatives (HCBA) waiver program. Her focus on building reliable systems and strong teams will be essential to ensuring that CEI’s rapid growth translates into sustained, high-quality care. Her appointment marks a deliberate move by CEI to not only manage its expanded footprint but to perfect its delivery model, ensuring its legacy as a vital community resource for thousands of East Bay seniors and their families.